Closure for phonographs



Jan. E6, 1951 R. M. SOMERS CLOSURE FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed Sept. 10, 1947 lhwentor Pz'cka rcZ MJ'onzers (Ittomeg Patented Jan. 16, r 1951 CLOSURE FOR PHONOGRAPHS Richard M. Somers, West Orange, N. J., assignor to Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated, West Orange, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 10, 1947, Serial No. 773,129

This invention relates to improvements in clo- 3 Claims.

adapted for using disk records, and more particularly it relates to a novel closure or cabinet An object of the invention is to provide a novel sures for dictating machines, especially those "cabinet for a dictating machine which is adapted to enclose completely the record and which has a movable cover closely conforming to a portion of the mounted record and openable to expose for such a machine having means forsecuring 5 that portion to enable the record to be readily a mounted record to its support, which cabinet removed from the machine by hand and a new is adapted to enclose wholly the mounted record record to be easily installed. A further object is during use of the machine and to expose the recto couple such cover with a means for releasably 0rd, to permit its removal and to permit mountsecuring a mounted record to its support so that ing of a new record, as an incident of releasin the cover is opened automatically as an incident the mounted record from its support. ,of releasing the record-securing means and is It is now common in the dictation-r oo d closed as an incident of securing the record in art to use disk records made of a plastic material t mounted position, such as of a copolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl I ot bje t are t provide nove1 and chloride known in the trad a v y T1118 proved cabinet structure and mechanism for is a Very ho o e material Which as a carrying out the aforestated objectives.

(Ia I121 g1:(3iutI1l]1eleaS lsarglggarnltalyar so tilllllgaggrgl l fv- 1sltilll other objects andtlfleaiures of my invention V, D wi ea aren rom e 01 in sci o to be statically charged and when so charged they 9 and t fg c1aims ow g de r p 1 n assassinate; My is a o eaccom nih is a collection of such particles on the record, Figure 1 is a ff ggi gg z gi gi g the inherent noise-free condition of the record tating machine in which my invention iseinccp surface isdestroyed and the ratio of the signal Formed. to noise level is materially reduced Moreover" Figure 2 is a fract onal section taken substansince the noise which such surface particltes promany on the line & of Figure and 'duce is in the high-frequency range con aining the sibilant sounds that give intelligibility to fig 2 g giggg fi ii gg i g ones speech, this noise reduces the accuracy witl of Figure 2 y .which recorded dictation can be transcribed. I i is therefore important in the dictation-recording ggg g g gifi gg gg ggi g: 5 a art that this record surface noise be eliminated. d ings comprises a cabinet 3 2 3 g i is;

The records ma of course be easily preserve b in a clean conditi n during handling and during 7 which. encloses the Operatmg mechamsm of storage as by keeping them in a suitable com the machine. However, for the purposes of the tainer, envelope or the like. But I have found present mventl9n only that part of theopemtmg that protection of the records during their stor vmecllamsm Whlch oncerns the mount ng of the age is not enough, for if such records are left recold i be herem decnbed detafl' only partially expused While they are used on By way of preferred illustration, the present the machine they will normanypick up enough 40 .machme is adapted for recording on and reproloose particles from the atmosphere to impair :ducing from a record R, of a disk form. This recmarkedly the accuracy of the recording and the 0rd 15 m p turntable fractlonany accuracy with which it can be transcribed. More- Shown m Flgure The tu'l'ntable may hflve P over, these particles are not easily removed since, dqwnwaldly Ofiset hub P i I d 170 provlde lt because of the charged condition of the record, h a central W that Is 130 recelve they cling tenaciously to the record and tend a e a m member I3 hereinafter emerely to be displaced from one portion of th scribed. ThlS hub portion I la seats w thin a record to another as the record is t, by a well 14 of a frame l5 (fractionally shown) and brush or wiped by a Soft cloth has a depending spindle l6 which ournals 1n a By the present invention these difliculties are bearin ll o he frame- The top of the turncvercome by enclosing the record from the attable 15 P e y faced y a thln layer Q o mosphere while it is mounted on the dictating Soft mammal such as of felt l' 50 E to machine so that the dust particles of the air pr v the record R from being ol e have little or no chance to lodge on the record. marred as it is slid across the turntable into and. t out of mounted position in relationthereto.

The record R has a central circular aperture l9 equal approximately to the diameter of the central well l2 of the turntable, and the clamping member I3 has a frusto-conical portion which, as the member is depressed, enters the aperture I 9 and the well 2 to center accurately the record on the turntable. At the top of the frusto-conical portionZfl there .is arim flange2 l which is adapted to bear against the body portion of the record surrounding its aperture l9 to clamp the record to the turntable.

The clamping member !3 is hollow and has a central aperture in its top wall receiving loosely a plunger 22. The plunger has a flanged head 23 at its lower end which is provided with a conical top surface (Figure 3) within the clamping memher. The clamping member is urged downwardly against the headand is retained thus normally in a centralized position relative to the plungerby a compression spring 24 interposed between the head and the bottom wall of the clamping member, there being a localizing projection '25 on the head to retain the spring in place.

The plunger 22 is mounted slidably in a bearing 25 for vertical movement. This bearing is carried by a bridge 25 which at its ends is mounted on standards 28 of the frame l5, these standards being in diametrically opposite positions relative to the turntable. In the upper end of the plunger there is a slotZt receiving a cross rod 39 which has an oifset portion 39a (Figure 2) that is pivoted in a pair of ears 3'! turned over from an upright standard 32 at the side of the bridge. On the plunger below this cross rod is a washer 33 and between this washer and the upper end of the bearing 2'6 is a compression spring 34 which urges the plunger upwardly and normally holds the clamping member 13 in raised position above the turntable, the raised position of the clamping member being defined by its abutment against a rubber collar '35 at the bottom of the bearing 26.

For depressing the plunger 22 and clamping a record to the turntable there is provided a cam lever 336 which is pivoted on a stud 31 carried by a depending ear 38 of the bridge 21(Figures 2 andB). Secured to this cam lever is a handle 39 which extends rightwardly across the turntable and terminates in a fingerpiece 39a. The cam lever has a cam slot 40 receiving a roller 4| that is journaled on an end portion of the rod 30. The cam slot is eccentric with respect to'the pivot stud 31 so that as the handle 39 is depressed from a raised position shown in Figure 3 to a horizontal position shown in Figure l--this horizontal position being defined by abutment of an end face 35a of the cam lever 36 against the standard Bil-the plunger is moved downwardly .to engage the clamping member with the record. At the lower end of the cam slot there is an inwardlycurved portion M to receive the roller 4| and. serve as :a detent for holding the record-clamping member in actuated position.

The cabinet Hi comprises two housing sections: a base 43 and an upper section 44. The bottom rim 45 of the upper section is offset outwardly so as to surround the upper edge of the base'portion. The upper section seats on the frame 15 as indicated in Figure 3, and the two housing sections are secured fixedly together by any suitable means not herein necessary to show. The upper section has a downwardly-inclined .front wall 4.6 at its lower portion on which is mounteda plate ii] that is provided with top :and :bottom turnedover edges 48 .to provide a guideway for receiving slidably anindex slip such as is well knownzinithe art and not herein necessary to show. Overlying this plate 48 is a marking pointer 50 such as is also well known in the art; this pointer is moved along the slip in accordance with the relative traveling movement between the mounted record and the record-cooperable recorder and/or reproducer. Also carried with the pointer 50 is a hand lever-5i which moves through a clearance slot 52 of a pivoted closure 53 at the front of the housing; this hand lever is movable upwardly from its neutral position, shown in Figure 1, to

condition the machine for reproducing and is movable downwardly from that neutral position to condition the machine for recording. The part of the upper housing section above the level of the turntable terminates just to the right of the pivot axis of the latter to leave exposed approximately half of the turntable. This is done so as to provide ready access to the turntable so that a record may be easily mounted thereon and be removed therefrom. For instance, a record mounting is effected by sliding the record between the two standards 23 and across the turntable until the inner end of the record abuts against .a suitable .stop (.not shown) which is adapted to locate the record in .an approximately centralized position-a position wherein the bottom end of the clamping member !3 lies within the area of the aperture IS of the record-and then the handle 39 is depressed to cause the clamping member to center accurately the record and clamp the record to the turntable. To remove the record, it is only necessary to first raise the handle 39 and then slide the record rig-htwardly 'out of the cabinet.

Since the cabinet is arranged to leave a substantial portion of the mounted record exposed so as to enable easy mounting and removal 'of .the record on andfrom the turntable, the .record will tend .to pick up dust particles from the air during use :of .the machine, particularly if plastic records are used, and these dust particles will reduce the accuracy with which the recorded :dictation can be transcribed; moreover, these dust particles are not easily removed from the record, all .a is hereinbeforeexplained. In order to keep the record clean-during the time that it is mounted on the machine, the machine is provided with a movable protective cover 54 for the portion of the record .left exposed by the cabinet proper. This cover 54 overlies the mounted record at a short distance thereabove and has a turned-down rim 54a which, when the cover is closed, seats on the horizontal ledge Ma of the cabinet surrounding the turntable. The cover is movably mounted, preferably by pivoting at 55 to the movable cabinet section l hso that it can beraised into an open position to expose the turntable for mounting and removal of a record. The cover is biased to closed position both by its weight and by a tension spring 56 connected between an inwardly-extending ear 5'! on the cover and a bracket 58 on the inner wall of the cabinet.

The cover is coupled to the record-clamping mechanism so that it is opened automatically as the record-clamping mechanism is released and is closed as the clamping mechanism is rendered effective. For instance, the .cover is divided into two sections 54b to provide a clearance slot 59 for the handle 59, and these sections are intercoupled by a bracket 66 secured to the sections as by spot-welding, the bracket having a loop extending upwardly between "the sections which overlies the handle 39. Thus, .as thghandleds raised to release the clamping mechanism, the

cover is lifted by the handle into an open position as shown in Figure 3, and as the handle is depressed to secure a mounted record to the turntable the cover is lowered into its closed position to provide a substantially complete closure of the record during the use of the dictating machine.

Although the cover 54 is provided with the clearance slot 59 for the handle 39 the cover may aiford yet a substantially complete closure for the record since the slot 59 may be made very narrow and may be substantially closed by the handle 39 when the latter is in its downward position. Additionally, the edges of the slot may, if desired, be lined witha soft yieldable material 6| such as felt to afiord a complete closure of the slot 59 when the handle 39 is in its downward position.

The embodiment of my invention herein particularly described is intended to be illustrative of my invention and not necessarily limitative thereof since this embodiment is obviously subject to changes and modifications without departure from the scope of my invention, which I endeavor to express according to the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a dictating machine including a frame and a journalled support on said frame for a disk record: the combination of a cabinet for said machine adapted to leave exposed a portion of a record mounted on said support, a cover for said record portion closely conforming thereto and pivotally secured to said cabinet for movement between open and closed positions, a clamp movably mounted on said frame for movement into and out of clamping engagement with a record on said support to secure the record in mounted relation to the latter, a handpiece projecting from said cabinet and movably mounted on said frame for back and forth movement between operative and inoperative positions, means coupling said handpiece to said clamp for moving the clamp into record-clamping position as the handpiece is moved into operative position and for releasing the clamp as the handpiece is moved into inoperative position, and means coupling said cover to said handpiece to cause the cover to be opened and closed as the handpiece is moved into said inoperative and operative positions respectively.

2. In a dictating machine operable with a disk record tending normally to collect dust particles from the air, and including a support for holding said record horizontally for rotation about a vertical axis: the combination of a device for securing the central hub portion of said record to said support, said device including a handle pivoted on a transverse axis above the central portion of said support and movable downwardly into an operated position to render the device effective and upwardly from said position to render the device inefiective, said handle extending horizontally from the central portion of the record beyond the periphery thereof and lying closely adjacent to the record when in said operated position; a cabinet for said machine arranged to expose the outer end portion of said handle and the top face of only a segmental portion of said record; a cover for said exposed recordportion hinged to said cabinet on a transverse axis above said support for upward and downward movement into open and closed positions respectively; and means on said cover coacting with said handle for causing the cover to be opened and closed respectively as the handle is released from and returned to said operated position.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover is biased downwardly into closed position, and said handle-coacting means comprises a member secured to said cover and merely overlying said handle for lifting the cover into 7 open position when the handle is released and for allowing the cover to close in response to its downward bias as the handle is moved to said operated position.

RICHARD M. SOMERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

